1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to enclosures and more particularly to an enclosure device for housing a visual display device.
2. Background of the Invention
Providing information and advertising to the general public in public places such as bus and train stations, public meeting places, and public rest rooms and the like presents security and vandalism problems for the purveyor of such information. Deliberate defacing and destruction of the equipment used to provide such information by vandals has challenged the designers and manufacturers to produce vandal proof, or at least vandal resistant equipment. Although the devices of the prior art have addressed the problems of defacing and destruction, none have completely solved these problems associated with the malicious behavior of vandals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,074 to Rohme discloses a cabinet in which the closure or door thereof is rendered less vulnerable to unauthorized tampering which seeks to bypass the lock thereof as a result of the door being latched behind an edge of the cabinet front opening. Thus, opening of the door contemplates a compound movement, i.e. an initial unlatching sliding movement, and then the usual pivotal traverse from its closed into its open position. As a significant improvement, the construction of the within cabinet effectively masks the presence of the structural features which contribute to the door compound movement, whereas this is not the case with prior art cabinet doors and, as a result, such omission in an obvious way, detracts from the effectiveness of the security intended to be gained by the compound door movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,331 to Tramontina discloses an improved vandal-resistant paper towel dispenser for public washrooms including a mechanism for storing and dispensing paper towels and an outer housing for encasing the mechanism. The outer housing includes a rear mounting surface that is adapted to be secured to a wall, and a shell-like forward surface, connected to the rear mounting surface, for protecting the mechanism from individuals who might have destructive intent. Advantageously, the shell-like forward surface is softly rounded to an extent that it is practically impossible to obtain a handhold on the top or sides of the outer housing, whereby a vandal will be pre-vented from grabbing the dispenser and pulling it off the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,671 to Lodge et al. discloses a key cabinet having a frame that defines an interior chamber with at least one panel attached within the interior chamber as well as a door attached to and overlying the frame. The door pivots away from the frame in an opposite direction than the panels to provide the user with simultaneously access to multiple panels as well as the door. In addition, a rail having grooves is provided that may be manufactured in a cost effective manner with a key releasably engaged with a corresponding groove.
U.S. Pat. No. D289,873 to Gemmell et al. discloses an ornamental design for a flat panel display for personal computer.
U.S. Pat. No. D306,720 to Flies discloses an ornamental design for a computer display terminal.
U.S. Pat. No. D357,495 to Skaggs et al. discloses an ornamental design for a point of sale touch screen display.
U.S. Pat. No. D359,727 to Wilson discloses an ornamental design for a computerized information system.
U.S. Pat. No. D454,565 to Harriman discloses an ornamental design for a display housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 414,473 to Kummel et al. discloses an ornamental design for a monitor.
U.S. Pat. No. D480,961 to Deadman discloses an ornamental design for a screen case, as shown and described.
US Patent Application 2005/0017610 to Mistry et al. discloses a wall-mounted cabinet having two components. The first, a back portion, is fixedly connected to a wall, and the second, a cover portion, is pivotally and detachably connected to the second. A vent is formed in the top of the cover portion, but in a manner that does not permit water to enter but does permit heated air generated from with the cabinet to exit. In order to accomplish this, a water-diverting plate is provided on the back portion. The plate is oriented to extend across the width of the vent at an angle, so that water entering the vent is directed towards a gap formed between the wall and the outer surface of the back portion.
Although the devices of the prior art have partially solved the problems associated with malicious vandalism of devices in public places, none has totally solved the problem.
Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide a tamper proof, vandal resistant housing for a computer or display device.
Another object of this invention is to provide a housing for a computer or display device having fluid resistance, whereby water and the like splashed upon the device will not impair the operation of the computer or display device within the housing.
Another object of this invention is to provide a lockably removable housing for a computer or display device wherein the computer or display device may be readily accessible by unlocking the housing.
Another object of this invention is to provide a housing for a computer or display device having a transparent protective face for allowing unrestricted viewing of the display screen while providing the screen protection from malicious mechanical damage.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the present invention. These objects should be construed as being merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by modifying the invention within the scope of the invention. Accordingly other objects in a full understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention, the detailed description describing the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.